Hybrid native networked applications

ABSTRACT

Disclosed are various embodiments for a hybrid networked application. An application context communicates with a thin client application. The application context maintains a navigation state and manages previously loaded content to simulate a native application experience. Navigation contexts facilitate the search and discovery of information. Overlays facilitate the discovery and rendering of item details.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S.application Ser. No. 13/644,746 titled “HYBRID NATIVE NETWORKEDAPPLICATION”, filed Oct. 4, 2012, which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

Native applications allow for developers to take advantage of advanceduser interface elements and state management. Problems arise when thenative application interacts with services using tightly coupled dataand presentation layers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Many aspects of the present disclosure can be better understood withreference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings arenot necessarily to scale, with emphasis instead being placed uponclearly illustrating the principles of the disclosure. Moreover, in thedrawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding partsthroughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is a drawing of a networked environment according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2A is a drawing of an example of a user interface rendered by aclient in the networked environment of FIG. 1 according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2B is a drawing of an example of a user interface rendered by aclient in the networked environment of FIG. 1 according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating one example of functionalityimplemented as portions of a hybrid networked application executed in acomputing environment in the networked environment of FIG. 1 accordingto various embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram that provides one exampleillustration of a computing environment employed in the networkedenvironment of FIG. 1 according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Developers for networked services often create device-specific nativeapplications to interact with the networked services while takingadvantage of features made available by native implementations. Forexample, an electronic commerce system may have a network page serverimplementation to allow users to access the system using a browser orother application. The electronic commerce system may then also developa native application for execution on a mobile device or other device.The native application would be specifically designed to take advantageof the form factor and interface components specific to the mobiledevice, such as a touch screen, as well as device or operating systemuser interface elements such as native menus and animations.Additionally, native applications allow for state management, distinctfrom the stateless Hypertext Transfer Protocol implementation used formany browser-based networked system interactions.

Native applications also have disadvantages compared to a browser-basedaccess method. Tightly coupled data and presentation layers can increasethe difficulty of delivering content consistent with the contentdelivered via network page servers. New features implemented in thesystem are immediately available to browser-based users followingdeployment. For native application users, the user will typically haveto download an updated version or patch for the application to accessthe new features.

A hybrid native networked application can allow for developers and usersto take advantage of many of the features made available by nativeapplications and browser-based system access. A thin native applicationallows developers to implement native user interface elements such asmenus, as well as native operating system or device features such asnotification and search services. Additional native elements which maybe accessed by the native application include internal and externalhardware devices, or other applications concurrently executed on thesame client device. By implementing a thin native application, leavingserver-side functionality to manage state and content, the user will beable to access newly deployed functionality without requiring an updateof the native application, minimizing the overall amount of requiredupdates.

A server side application context can manage the navigation state of thesystem with respect to the native application users. This allows forstate management with respect to native application users unavailable tostateless browser-based users. The application context can also serve asa message proxy service between the native application and otherapplication layers such as a navigation context, implemented for searchand content discovery, and overlays, implemented to facilitate therendering of detailed information by the native application.

Additionally, multiple instances of the hybrid native networkedapplication may be executed concurrently to perform A/B testing, splittesting, or other quality assurance testing with respect to differentsessions executed on the native application. The multiple instances maycomprise identical or different versions of the hybrid native networkedapplication.

In the following discussion, a general description of the system and itscomponents is provided, followed by a discussion of the operation of thesame.

With reference to FIG. 1, shown is a networked environment 100 accordingto various embodiments. The networked environment 100 includes acomputing environment 101, and a client 104, which are in datacommunication with each other via a network 107. The network 107includes, for example, the Internet, intranets, extranets, wide areanetworks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), wired networks, wirelessnetworks, or other suitable networks, etc., or any combination of two ormore such networks.

The computing environment 101 may comprise, for example, a servercomputer or any other system providing computing capability.Alternatively, the computing environment 101 may employ a plurality ofcomputing devices that may be employed that are arranged, for example,in one or more server banks or computer banks or other arrangements.Such computing devices may be located in a single installation or may bedistributed among many different geographical locations. For example,the computing environment 101 may include a plurality of computingdevices that together may comprise a cloud computing resource, a gridcomputing resource, and/or any other distributed computing arrangement.In some cases, the computing environment 101 may correspond to anelastic computing resource where the allotted capacity of processing,network, storage, or other computing-related resources may vary overtime.

Various applications and/or other functionality may be executed in thecomputing environment 101 according to various embodiments. Also,various data is stored in a data store 111 that is accessible to thecomputing environment 101. The data store 111 may be representative of aplurality of data stores 111 as can be appreciated. The data stored inthe data store 111, for example, is associated with the operation of thevarious applications and/or functional entities described below.

The components executed on the computing environment 103, for example,include a hybrid networked application 114, an electronic commercesystem 117, and other applications, services, processes, systems,engines, or functionality not discussed in detail herein.

The hybrid native application 114 is executed to facilitate interactionsbetween a native application 121 executed on a client 104 and theelectronic commerce system 117. The hybrid native application 114 maycomprise an application context 124, a navigation context 127, and oneor more overlays 131, as well as other data or functionality. Theapplication context 124 maintains a navigation state 134 with respect tothe native application 121. The navigation state 134 may compriseinformation relating to currently viewed content, as well as previouslyloaded and previously viewed content. The navigation state 134 may alsocomprise an ordered or unordered browsing history with respect to thenative application 121 in order to facilitate backtracking to a previousnavigation state 134. For example, the navigation state 134 may includea navigation stack of previous navigation states 134 or events, anoverlay 131, or other content. In addition to maintaining the navigationstate 134, the application context updates the navigation state 134 inresponse to navigation events triggered by the native application 121,the navigation context 127, or the overlays 131.

Additionally, the application context 124 implements a message proxyservice 137 to facilitate communication of messages 141 between thenative application 121 and the navigation context 127 or overlays 131.Messages 141 may comprise postMessage data or other data. Messages 141sent by the native application 121 may comprise requests such as searchqueries, navigation requests to open detail data in an overlay 131, alogin or logout, a handshake between the native application and thecomponent contexts of the hybrid networked application 114, or otherdata. Messages 141 sent to the native application may comprise alerts,indicators to open native user interface elements such as menus orclient 104 specific search functionality, or other data. Otherfunctionality may also be implemented by the application context 124, aswell.

The navigation context 127 facilitates the search and navigation ofcontent of the electronic commerce system 117 by a user of the nativeapplication 121. This may comprise a search of a catalog 144 comprisingitems 147 available for sale or viewing through the electronic commercesystem 117. The navigation context 127 may also communicate messages 141comprising navigation events to the application context 124 forcommunication to the native application 121, for updating a navigationstate 134, or some other purpose.

Overlays 131 facilitate information discovery by the native application121. This may comprise generating or otherwise accessing detail pagescomprising information relating to one or more items 147. Overlays 131may also trigger navigation events through the application context 124such as a login event, or trigger other overlays 131. Additionally,overlays 131 may facilitate a comparison of details corresponding to twoor more items 147 responsive to a user interface event triggered by theuser of the native application. For example, the user may select a firstrendered overlay 131 corresponding to a first item 147 and drag thefirst overlay 131 on top of a second overlay 131 to initiate acomparison of the corresponding items 147. The overlays 131 may alsoembody actionable content with respect to a user interface rendered by anative application 121 such as a frame or other user interface element.Other functionality may also be implemented by overlays 131.

The electronic commerce system 117 is executed in order to facilitatethe online purchase of items 147 over the network 107 The electroniccommerce system 117 also performs various backend functions associatedwith the online presence of a merchant in order to facilitate the onlinepurchase of items 147 as will be described. For example, the electroniccommerce system 117 generates network pages such as web pages or othertypes of network content that are provided to clients 104 by a networkpage server 151 for the purposes of selecting items for purchase,rental, download, lease, or other form of consumption as will bedescribed.

The data stored in the data store 111 includes, for example, a catalog144 comprising items 147, and potentially other data. The catalog 144implements an organization of items 147 available for purchase or rentalthrough the electronic commerce system 117.

The client 104 is representative of a plurality of client devices thatmay be coupled to the network 107. The client 104 may comprise, forexample, a processor-based system such as a computer system. Such acomputer system may be embodied in the form of a desktop computer, alaptop computer, personal digital assistants, cellular telephones,smartphones, set-top boxes, music players, web pads, tablet computersystems, game consoles, electronic book readers, or other devices withlike capability.

The client 104 may be configured to execute various applications such asa native application 121 and/or other applications. The nativeapplication 121 may be executed in a client 104 for example, to accessnetwork content served up by the computing environment 101 and/or otherservers. Additionally, the native application 121 is configured tocommunicate messages 141 to the hybrid networked application 114 via themessage proxy service 137. The native application 121 may also obtainresponses 154 from the hybrid networked application 114. The response154 may comprise messages 141 to initiate an alert or render a nativeuser interface element on the client 104. The response 154 may alsocomprise content for rendering by the native application 121 such assearch results or item 147 details from the electronic commerce system117. The response 154 may comprise other data as well.

The native application 121 may also maintain a global state which isupdated during navigation and overlay 131 events by the applicationcontext 124. The global state may comprise a saved navigation state 134.This saved navigation state 134 may be communicated to the applicationcontext 124 to generate a current navigation state 134 in theapplication context 124.

Next, a general description of the operation of the various componentsof the networked environment 100 is provided. To begin, the nativeapplication 121 communicates a message embodying a handshake to becommunicated to the navigation context 127 and the overlays 131. Thismay comprise communicating the message 141 to the message proxy service137 of the application context 124 for forwarding to the navigationcontext 127 or the overlay 131. The handshake message 141 may also becommunicated by another approach as well.

After the handshaking between the native application 121 and the hybridnetworked application 114 is complete, the application context 124generates a starting navigation state 134 embodying a current workflowstate with respect to the native application 121 interactions with theelectronic commerce system 117. Generating the starting navigation state134 may comprise generating a new navigation state as a function ofdefault parameters, user account information with respect to a user ofthe native application 121, or other data. Generating the startingnavigation state 134 may also comprise obtaining a previously savednavigation state 134 from the native application 121 to allow the nativeapplication 121 to resume from a previous point in the workflow. Thestarting navigation state 134 may also be generated by another approach.

Next, the client 104 will begin interactions with the electroniccommerce system 117 via the native application 121 and the hybridnetworked application 114. Interactions are performed by communicatingmessages 141 to the hybrid networked application 114 via the messageproxy service 137 of the application context 124. The message proxyservice 137 then forwards the messages 141 to the appropriate componentsuch as the navigation context 127 and the overlays 131.

For example, the client 104 may wish to perform a search of the catalog144 for one or more items 147. This interaction may comprisecommunicating a message 141 embodying a search query or request to thenavigation context 127. The navigation context 127 may then generate anavigation event as a message 141 communicated to the applicationcontext 124 to update the navigation state 134 so as to embody thecurrent searching stage of the workflow.

In such an embodiment, updating the current navigation state 134 maycomprise the navigation context 127 generating search results comprisinga list of one or more items 147. Generating the search results may befacilitated by search algorithms or other functionality implemented inthe electronic commerce system 117, the catalog 144, or other data. Thecurrent navigation state 134 will further comprise these search resultsas loaded content.

As another example of an interaction performed by the client 104 withrespect to the hybrid networked application 114, the user of the nativeapplication 121 may wish to load a product detail page embodyingdetailed data associated with one or more items 147 stored in thecatalog 144. This may comprise generating a message 141 embodying adetail request, which may include a reference to an item 147 obtainedfrom loaded search results, or other identifying data.

The detail request message 141 will be communicated to the message proxyservice 137 for communication to an overlay 131. This may comprisegenerating a new overlay 131, modifying the content of an alreadycreated overlay 131, or some other approach. Responsive to the detailrequest message 141, the overlay 131 may then communicate with theapplication context 124 to update the navigation state 134 to reflectthe requested detail. In such an embodiment, the updated navigationstate 134 may include information associated with loaded or openedoverlays 131, a currently focused overlay 131, or other data. The loadedor opened overlays 131 may be stored as an ordered collection such as alist or stack, an unordered collection, or by another approach. This mayfurther comprise encoding for rendering by the native application 121 auser interface element embodying the requested product details which iscommunicated as a response 154. Requested detail may be obtained by thehybrid networked application 114 via interactions with the electroniccommerce system 117, items 147 in the catalog 144, or by anotherapproach. Other approaches may also be used to request item 147 detailsfrom the hybrid networked application 114.

The client 104 may also initiate a comparison of one or more item 147details. This may comprise a user interface interaction in which a userinterface element embodying an overlay 131 item 147 is selected anddragged onto a second overlay 131 embodying one or more items 147. Thisinteraction would then communicate a message 141 embodying an item 147comparison to the application context 124. The application context 124would then load the associated overlays 131 with the item 147 detailsand update the navigation state 134 to reflect the new overlay 131collection and overlay 131 focus. Other approaches may also be used toinitiate an item 147 comparison.

As interactions cause the navigation state 134 to be updated, thecontent loaded in response to the navigation events and interactions aremaintained in the navigation state 134. For example, previously loadeditem 147 details are maintained as a component of the navigation state134. In response to an interaction requesting previously loaded content,such as an already loaded item 147 detail embodied in the navigationstate 134, the application context 124 may generate the currentnavigation state 134 using the already loaded content instead of loadingnew content from the data store 111 or electronic commerce system 117.This facilitates more efficient access to data and preserves theworkflow of the user of the native application 121.

Additionally, a navigation event may result in the navigation state 134being updated to reflect a previously encountered navigation state 134.In such an event, the application context 124 may generate the currentnavigation state 134 in response to the navigation event using dataalready embodied in the navigation state 134. This may comprise poppingelements off a navigation or overlay 131 stack embodied in thenavigation state 134, or by another approach.

As the navigation state 134 is updated the native application 121 maysave or maintain the navigation state 134. In some embodiments, this maycomprise obtaining updates from the application context 124 such that anavigation state 134 maintained by the native application 121 reflects anavigation state maintained by the application context 124. In anotherembodiment, the application context 124 may initiate a save of thenavigation state 134 by the native application 121 at a predefinedinterval, in response to a native application 121, in response to apredefined condition or event, or by another approach.

Turning now to FIG. 2A, shown is a user interface representing aninitiation of an item 147 (FIG. 1) comparison by a user of a nativeapplication 121 (FIG. 1). Although the following elements are describedas particular user interface elements, it is understood that other userinterface elements may also be implemented in the user interface.

Item 201 is a text input to facilitate an initiation of an item 147search an electronic commerce system 117 (FIG. 1). Item 204 represents aframe embodying a selected item 147 for comparison. Item 204 maycorrespond to an overlay 131 (FIG. 1) or some other component of thehybrid networked application 114 (FIG. 1). Item 207 is an indicator fortargeting a selection of a user interface element. Item 207 may comprisea mouse pointer, a point of contact for a touch screen input, or anotherinput. Item 211 represents a second user interface element embodying anitem 147 against which the selected item will be compared. Item 214 is abar for maintaining user interface elements corresponding to variouspreviously viewed items 147. Items 217 are user interface frames which,when selected, initiate a navigation event to set the current navigationstate 134 to embody a focus on the selected item 147 corresponding tothe user interface element.

Moving on to FIG. 2B, shown is a user interface embodying an item 147(FIG. 1) comparison rendered by the native application 121 (FIG. 1).Items 221 and 224 are user interface frames each embodying a differentitem 147 for comparison. Included in items 221 and 224 are productdetails corresponding to the respective items 147. Items 221 and 224 maycorrespond to an overlay 131 (FIG. 1), some other component of thehybrid networked application 114 (FIG. 1), or other data.

Item 227 is representative of a user interface frame corresponding tothe navigation state 134 (FIG. 1), highlighted to indicate that thecurrent navigation state 134 corresponds to the product comparison. Item228 is representative of a user interface frame which, when selected,will transition the current navigation state from the item 147comparison to a selected item 147 corresponding to the user interfaceelement.

Referring next to FIG. 3, shown is a flowchart that provides one exampleof the operation of a portion of the hybrid networked application 114according to various embodiments. It is understood that the flowchart ofFIG. 3 provides merely an example of the many different types offunctional arrangements that may be employed to implement the operationof the portion of the hybrid networked application 114 as describedherein. As an alternative, the flowchart of FIG. 3 may be viewed asdepicting an example of steps of a method implemented in the computingenvironment 101 (FIG. 3) according to one or more embodiments.

Beginning with box 301, the application context 124 (FIG. 1) obtains amessage 141 (FIG. 1) to generate a navigation event. The message maycomprise a request to initiate a search of the catalog 144 (FIG. 1) foritems 147 (FIG. 1) responsive to a search query. The message 141 mayalso comprise a request to load a product detail for an item 147 asfacilitated by an overlay 131 (FIG. 1). The message 141 may alsocomprise other data to generate a navigation event with respect to thehybrid networked application 114. Obtaining the message 141 may befacilitated by the message proxy service 137 (FIG. 1), which may thenforward the message 141 to a navigation context 127 (FIG. 1) or anoverlay 131. Other approaches may also be used to obtain the message141.

Next, in box 304, the hybrid networked application 114 determines ifcontent to be loaded in response to the navigation event is associatedwith previously loaded content. This determination may be facilitated bythe application context 124. In embodiments in which a message proxyservice 137 forwards the message 141 to a navigation context 127 oroverlay 131, the determination may also be facilitated by the targetednavigation context 127 or overlay 131. Additionally, the determinationmay comprise an analysis of a navigation state 134 to determine if thecontent had been loaded responsive to previous messages 141 ornavigation events, or if the message 141 triggers a navigation eventwhich would transition the current navigation state 134 to a previouslyembodied navigation state. The determination may also be performed byanother approach.

In box 307, if the navigation event is not associated with previouslyloaded content, the content is loaded from the data store 111 (FIG. 1).This may comprise communicating with search functionality of theelectronic commerce system 117 (FIG. 1) to generate search resultscomprising a listing of items 147 stored in the data store 111. This mayalso comprise loading product details for an item 147 stored in the datastore. Other approaches may also be used to load the content from thedata store 111.

Next, in box 311, the loaded content is stored as previously loadedcontent such that future navigation events will not need to access thedata store 111 for the loaded content. This may comprise updating ormodifying the navigation state 134, a data structure or applicationaccessible to the hybrid networked application 114, or some otherapproach.

If the navigation event is associated with previously loaded content,for example, a previously embodied navigation state 134, the associatedcontent is loaded from previously loaded content in box 314. This maycomprise accessing a data structure or other component of the navigationstate 134, or some other approach.

Next in box 317, the navigation state 134 is updated to reflect thecurrent navigation event. In embodiments in which the navigation eventis associated with previously loaded content, this may comprise poppingitems from a navigation stack or overlay 131 stack such that thenavigation state 134 embodies a previously embodied navigation state134. In other embodiments, this may comprise adding items to thenavigation stack or overlay 131 stack to reflect the loaded content.Updating the navigation state 134 may be accomplished by otherapproaches, as well.

With reference to FIG. 4, shown is a schematic block diagram of thecomputing environment 101 according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. The computing environment 101 includes one or more computingdevices 401. Each computing device 401 includes at least one processorcircuit, for example, having a processor 402 and a memory 404, both ofwhich are coupled to a local interface 407. To this end, each computingdevice 401 may comprise, for example, at least one server computer orlike device. The local interface 407 may comprise, for example, a databus with an accompanying address/control bus or other bus structure ascan be appreciated.

Stored in the memory 404 are both data and several components that areexecutable by the processor 402. In particular, stored in the memory 404and executable by the processor 402 are an electronic commerce system117 (FIG. 1) and a hybrid networked application 114 (FIG. 1) having anapplication context 124 (FIG. 1), navigation context 127 (FIG. 1), andoverlays 131 (FIG. 1), and potentially other applications. Also storedin the memory 404 may be a data store 111 (FIG. 1) storing a catalog 144(FIG. 1) and other data. In addition, an operating system may be storedin the memory 404 and executable by the processor 402.

It is understood that there may be other applications that are stored inthe memory 404 and are executable by the processor 402 as can beappreciated. Where any component discussed herein is implemented in theform of software, any one of a number of programming languages may beemployed such as, for example, C, C++, C#, Objective C, Java®,JavaScript®, Perl, PHP, Visual Basic®, Python®, Ruby, Flash®, or otherprogramming languages.

A number of software components are stored in the memory 404 and areexecutable by the processor 402. In this respect, the term “executable”means a program file that is in a form that can ultimately be run by theprocessor 402. Examples of executable programs may be, for example, acompiled program that can be translated into machine code in a formatthat can be loaded into a random access portion of the memory 404 andrun by the processor 402, source code that may be expressed in properformat such as object code that is capable of being loaded into a randomaccess portion of the memory 404 and executed by the processor 402, orsource code that may be interpreted by another executable program togenerate instructions in a random access portion of the memory 404 to beexecuted by the processor 402, etc. An executable program may be storedin any portion or component of the memory 404 including, for example,random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), hard drive,solid-state drive, USB flash drive, memory card, optical disc such ascompact disc (CD) or digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, magnetictape, or other memory components.

The memory 404 is defined herein as including both volatile andnonvolatile memory and data storage components. Volatile components arethose that do not retain data values upon loss of power. Nonvolatilecomponents are those that retain data upon a loss of power. Thus, thememory 404 may comprise, for example, random access memory (RAM),read-only memory (ROM), hard disk drives, solid-state drives, USB flashdrives, memory cards accessed via a memory card reader, floppy disksaccessed via an associated floppy disk drive, optical discs accessed viaan optical disc drive, magnetic tapes accessed via an appropriate tapedrive, and/or other memory components, or a combination of any two ormore of these memory components. In addition, the RAM may comprise, forexample, static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random accessmemory (DRAM), or magnetic random access memory (MRAM) and other suchdevices. The ROM may comprise, for example, a programmable read-onlymemory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), anelectrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or otherlike memory device.

Also, the processor 402 may represent multiple processors 402 and/ormultiple processor cores and the memory 404 may represent multiplememories 404 that operate in parallel processing circuits, respectively.In such a case, the local interface 407 may be an appropriate networkthat facilitates communication between any two of the multipleprocessors 402, between any processor 402 and any of the memories 404,or between any two of the memories 404, etc. The local interface 407 maycomprise additional systems designed to coordinate this communication,including, for example, performing load balancing. The processor 402 maybe of electrical or of some other available construction.

Although a hybrid networked application 114, and other various systemsdescribed herein may be embodied in software or code executed by generalpurpose hardware as discussed above, as an alternative the same may alsobe embodied in dedicated hardware or a combination of software/generalpurpose hardware and dedicated hardware. If embodied in dedicatedhardware, each can be implemented as a circuit or state machine thatemploys any one of or a combination of a number of technologies. Thesetechnologies may include, but are not limited to, discrete logiccircuits having logic gates for implementing various logic functionsupon an application of one or more data signals, application specificintegrated circuits (ASICs) having appropriate logic gates,field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other components, etc. Suchtechnologies are generally well known by those skilled in the art and,consequently, are not described in detail herein.

The flowchart of FIG. 3 shows the functionality and operation of animplementation of portions of the hybrid networked application 114. Ifembodied in software, each block may represent a module, segment, orportion of code that comprises program instructions to implement thespecified logical function(s). The program instructions may be embodiedin the form of source code that comprises human-readable statementswritten in a programming language or machine code that comprisesnumerical instructions recognizable by a suitable execution system suchas a processor 402 in a computer system or other system. The machinecode may be converted from the source code, etc. If embodied inhardware, each block may represent a circuit or a number ofinterconnected circuits to implement the specified logical function(s).

Although the flowchart of FIG. 3 shows a specific order of execution, itis understood that the order of execution may differ from that which isdepicted. For example, the order of execution of two or more blocks maybe scrambled relative to the order shown. Also, two or more blocks shownin succession in FIG. 3 may be executed concurrently or with partialconcurrence. Further, in some embodiments, one or more of the blocksshown in FIG. 3 may be skipped or omitted. In addition, any number ofcounters, state variables, warning semaphores, or messages might beadded to the logical flow described herein, for purposes of enhancedutility, accounting, performance measurement, or providingtroubleshooting aids, etc. It is understood that all such variations arewithin the scope of the present disclosure.

Also, any logic or application described herein, including hybridnetworked application 114, that comprises software or code can beembodied in any non-transitory computer-readable medium for use by or inconnection with an instruction execution system such as, for example, aprocessor 402 in a computer system or other system. In this sense, thelogic may comprise, for example, statements including instructions anddeclarations that can be fetched from the computer-readable medium andexecuted by the instruction execution system. In the context of thepresent disclosure, a “computer-readable medium” can be any medium thatcan contain, store, or maintain the logic or application describedherein for use by or in connection with the instruction executionsystem.

The computer-readable medium can comprise any one of many physical mediasuch as, for example, magnetic, optical, or semiconductor media. Morespecific examples of a suitable computer-readable medium would include,but are not limited to, magnetic tapes, magnetic floppy diskettes,magnetic hard drives, memory cards, solid-state drives, USB flashdrives, or optical discs. Also, the computer-readable medium may be arandom access memory (RAM) including, for example, static random accessmemory (SRAM) and dynamic random access memory (DRAM), or magneticrandom access memory (MRAM). In addition, the computer-readable mediummay be a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM),an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electricallyerasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or other type of memorydevice.

It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of thepresent disclosure are merely possible examples of implementations setforth for a clear understanding of the principles of the disclosure.Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-describedembodiment(s) without departing substantially from the spirit andprinciples of the disclosure. All such modifications and variations areintended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure andprotected by the following claims.

Therefore, the following is claimed:
 1. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium embodying at least one program executable in atleast one computing device, the at least one program having instructionsthat cause the at least one computing device to at least: load contentassociated with a navigation event triggered by a native applicationexecuted on a client device; retain an amount of previously loadedcontent, the amount of previously loaded content having been previouslyloaded by the at least one computing device in response to a previousnavigation event triggered by the native application; maintain anavigation state associated with the native application executed on theclient device, the navigation state indicating a currently viewedcontent and the amount of previously loaded content.
 2. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the contentis loaded from the amount of previously loaded content responsive to thenavigation event being associated with the amount of previously loadedcontent.
 3. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1,wherein the instructions further cause the at least one computing deviceto at least obtain the navigation state from the client device inresponse to a handshake request from the client device.
 4. A system,comprising: at least one computing device configured to at least: loadcontent associated with a navigation event triggered by a nativeapplication executed on a client device; retain an amount of previouslyloaded content, the amount of previously loaded content having beenpreviously loaded by the at least one computing device in response to aprevious navigation event triggered by the native application; maintaina navigation state associated with the native application executed onthe client device, the navigation state indicating a currently viewedcontent and the amount of previously loaded content.
 5. The system ofclaim 4, wherein the content is loaded from the amount of previouslyloaded content responsive to the navigation event being associated withthe amount of previously loaded content.
 6. The system of claim 5,wherein the at least one computing device is further configured to atleast obtain the navigation state from the client device in response toa handshake request from the client device.
 7. The system of claim 6,wherein the at least one computing device is further configured to atleast load the currently viewed content and the previously viewedcontent indicated in the navigation state obtained from the clientdevice.
 8. The system of claim 4, wherein the at least one computingdevice is further configured to at least update the navigation state toindicate the content associated with the navigation event as thecurrently viewed content.
 9. The system of claim 4, wherein the at leastone computing device is further configured to at least implement atleast one overlay for rendering the content by the native application.10. The system of claim 9, wherein the at least one computing device isfurther configured to at least implement a proxy to facilitate acommunication of at least one message between the native application andthe at least one overlay.
 11. The system of claim 9, wherein the atleast one overlay is configured to trigger the navigation event.
 12. Thesystem of claim 4, wherein the at least one computing device is furtherconfigured to at least initiate a save of the navigation state on theclient device.
 13. A method, comprising: loading, by at least onecomputing device, content associated with a navigation event triggeredby a native application executed on a client device; retaining, by theat least one computing device, an amount of previously loaded content,the amount of previously loaded content having been previously loaded bythe at least one computing device in response to a previous navigationevent triggered by the native application; maintaining, by the at leastone computing device, a navigation state associated with the nativeapplication executed on the client device, the navigation stateindicating a currently viewed content and the amount of previouslyloaded content.
 14. The method of claim 13, further comprisinginitiating, by the at least one computing device, a save of thenavigation state as a saved navigation state by the native application,the saved navigation state being stored on the client device.
 15. Themethod of claim 14, further comprising: obtaining, by the at least onecomputing device, from the client device, the saved navigation state inresponse to a handshake request from the client device; and wherein thenavigation state comprises the saved navigation state.
 16. The method ofclaim 15, further comprising loading, by the at least one computingdevice, the currently viewed content and the previously viewed contentas indicated in the saved navigation state obtained from the clientdevice.
 17. The method of claim 13, wherein the content is loaded fromthe amount of previously loaded content responsive to the navigationevent being associated with the amount of previously loaded content. 18.The method of claim 13, further comprising implementing, by the at leastone computing device, at least one overlay for rendering the content bythe native application.
 19. The method of claim 18, further comprisingimplementing a proxy to facilitate a communication of at least onemessage between the native application and the at least one overlay. 20.The method of claim 19, wherein the at least one message comprises apostMessage message.